Railway Gazette wrote:The first of 55 Evolution Series ES43ACi diesel locomotives which GE Transportation is building for Pakistan Railways is undergoing final testing ahead of delivery from the USA. . . .The first contract for the supply of Evolution Series locomotives to South Asia was signed by Pakistan Railways on June 20 2015. Minister of Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique said 40 of the GE locomotives would be used to haul imported coal from Karachi to the Sahiwal and Jamshoro power stations, and 15 would be used on general freight services.

Thanks for the notice! And good to see that GE is still designing for the world market, not just producing indistinguishable North American models.--The link has a photo, but not a good one: only the front quarter or so of the unit is visible, and there is a piece of factory equipment blocking the view of the truck. Let's hope that someone sees one testing on the Erie (I assume, since the word is that Erie does exports while more and more North American production gets shifted to the non-union plant) test track and posts some good photos. It's a hood unit, with a small nose, and what look like bigger front windows than domestic units: maybe Pakistani's don't throw stones at trains?Story notes that it is designed for use in hot climate: perhaps the "ES43" designation marks a lower guaranteed power output than on domestic GEVO units. (On the other hand, maybe GE just varies the second digit of the model designation to mark different models: the big, GEVO-16, units for China are ES59 and those for Brazil are ES58.)

And the weight is given as 137 tonnes: a bit over 50,000 pounds per axle.

This is great news more GE export locomotives will be on their way soon.

As many already know, it is GE standard practice to use the number to designate traction horsepower in its domestic and export model designations. In this case, the ES43ACi has 4,353hp for traction, so it seems like an accurate model designation. But interestingly, it is known GE also likes to "round up" the number in some of their model designations. For example, the ES58ACi has 5,750hp for traction. This is also true for some of GE's domestic models, the B23-7 (2,250hp) and the current ET44AC (4,365hp), for example.

But in the case of the ES43ACi, perhaps they may also have chosen the "43" to differentiate it from the ES44AC domestic production. Despite the "i", GE may not have wanted a similarly named export ES44ACi.

Similar height limitations/restrictions will apply when adapting the GEVO for use over the Australian standard gauge interstate open access network. With Australia having a 134 tonne mass (any weight yet for the Pakistani units) limit, GE's designers only have limited options. For some markets like Europe, the GEVO is probably too big for the loading gauge

The ES44ACi mentioned above is captive to isolated mine systems in the north of West Australia

Renrut--Interesting observations. Thanks!Re: "With Australia having a 134 tonne mass (any weight yet for the Pakistani units) limit," the article that MEC407 linked says the new units for Pakistan are 137 tonnes.---As for Gevo units maybe being too big for European loading gauges… I assume that is why GE tried the "Powerhaul" engine on the British Class 70. South Africa, I have the impression, has a fairly generous loading gauge for a 3'6" track gauge rail system: Sout African locomotives are a lot bigger than, say, New Zealand's. How does Queensland Rail's 3'6" gauge system compare in this regard. I think I remember seeing that GE (and their licensee, formerly known as Goninan) were trying to market the Powerhaul concept to QR.

Queensland's is rather variable. There are some places, though many now abandoned, with a rather ridiculous loading gauge and weight limits while in other areas it is the same as the interstate network.

The 3 UGL Rail PH37ACmai prototypes have been sold to Pacific National.

GE still requires the 7FDL as a medium speed offering for the export market (not only size [include cooling modules]- also weight), The P616 (1500rpm) does not seem to have gained acceptance, apart from the UK (problems with locos self immolating), and South Korea. The sale in Australia is an aberration. The locos were demos that non of the punters was prepared to test, they have sat around for 3 years. Were discounted to Pacific National as a sweetener, part of negotiations for a contract to supply PN with long term locomotive maintenance services. Australian rail operators are lean and mean, institutional share owners use profit per employee statistics to gauge performance. Oz operators do not generally own the rail they run over (open access), and can't see profitability in maintaining the large backshops, so loved by prior government owners

Over 100 second hand Queensland locos have been imported into South Africa over the last 3 Years, and are running on Southern African rail, require coupler height adjustment, and conversion to vacuum brakes

Hey, TCDD has bought 20 PH37ACis, and they're building 30 for yet unknown customers...And yes, the Aussie Powerhauls were given in a sweet deal that also included 3 C44acis that have sat unsold for years. UGL apparently expects all new locomotives to be imported from Erie, which will probably be in a while since there is more SG motive power in Australia than is currently needed. There is some debate as to whether or not the GEVO could fit in the standard interstate loading gauge. It appears to, but not if the extreme NSW-mandated muffler is included. Interesting times. I'm also not sure why GE didn't try to slim down a 2800 class to compete with the GT 42CUs. I'm guessing the 88 class has much to do with it, but I haven't heard many reports of them actually running...